Belt-fastening machines



April 12, 1960 Filed Sept. 29, 1958 J. J. POTTER BELT-FASTENING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor B, a/dzM/gg/gjwaay tfii? April 12, 1960 J. J. POTTER 2,932,032

BELT-FASTENING MACHINES Filed Sept. 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvenlor lorney April 12, 1960 J. J. POTTER 2,932,032

BELT-FASTENING MACHINES Filed Sept. 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheets orney April 1960 J. J. POTTER 2,932,032

BELT-FASTENING. MACHINES Filed Sept. 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 venlor ttorney BELT-FASTENING MACHINES John J. Potter, Sheifield, England, assignor to Hayden- Nilos Limited, Sheflield, England Application September 29,1958, Serial No. 764,169

Claims priority, application Great Britain January 15, 1958 3 Claims, (Cl. 1-=49.4

This invention relates to belt-fastening machines of the type in which a jaw unit is movable on transverse guides connecting side frames of the machine, one of the guides being a rack bar for engagement by a pawl on the unit, which pawl is operated after each closing and opening of the jaws, to re-position the jaws for their next closing on to a hook, or group of hooks, positioned by a c'omb bar for insertion into a belt held in the machine with its end edge lying between the jaws. Although in some machines the jaws are closed by screw mechanism, it is preferred to use one or more levers for this purpose, becauseof the greater rapidity of operation. It is important that the leverage necessary for the penetration of the belt by the hooks shall be readily applied by the operator, whether or not the machine is used' in situations where there is restricted head-room, e.g. underground, otherwise some of the advantages as regards rapidity of action may be lost.

in existing machines, the pawl for engagement with the guiding rack bar has been manually operated by a separateshort handle or lever, so that after the jaws have been opened by operation of their lever or pair of levers, the separate operation of the pawl has been necessary to position the jaws before they could be closed on the next book or group of hooks. This necessary double operation of the jaws, with intermediate operation of the pawl, reduces the speed with which the machine can be used to complete the insertion'of hooks into the belt end.

The object of the present invention is to provide a lever-operated machine of the type in question with a considerably improved rate of operation. A further object is to provide such a machine with powerful leveroperating mechanism that is particularly suited for actuation by a single operator. Yet another object is to make a robust machine that is yet compact and easily taken through and operated in restricted spaces.

According to the present invention, a belt-fastening machine comprises side frames, transverse guide memhers,- of which one is a rack bar, a jaw unit movable along the guide members and including two oppositely movable jaw levers and toggle mechanism connecting the levers, a pair of upstanding lever handles movable in opposite directions about a common axis and each connected to the jaw levers by one of two short lever arms movable about the same common axis and a link from each of those lever arms to the toggle mechanism of the jaw levers, whereby simultaneous opposite movements of the upstanding handles result in an opening movement of tie jaw levers in one direction of handle movement and in a closing movement of the jaw-levers in the other direct-ion of handle'movement.

The handles being upstanding, they can be readily grasped by the two hands of the'operator who can-push oneand pull the other by a balanced action, which not only enables him to apply a very considerable closing effort to the jaws, but also does not tend to pull or push the machine out of position. The complete oscillation 7' States i. atent ice The common axis of theupstanding handles can be the rack bar along which the jaw unit is guided, andthe other guide member may be a comb-bar embraced by the jaw ends of the. jawlevers and serving to position a row of hooks. The link from the lever arm of one handle lies above the guide bar in the open position of the jaw levers, and the other link then lies below the guide, and in order to provide a particularly powerful closing action of the handles by the use of very short lever arms and to keep the linkage compact, the links may be curved upwardly and downwardly respectively with respect to the line joining the axis of the handles and the'connection to the toggle mechanism, so as to lie clear of the guide bar. v

A powerful closing action can be exerted by quite short lever handles, so that the overall height of .the machine can be kept small. However, the handles may be dismountable from their upstanding position, to reduce the height still further. Thus, they may be tubular to fit stubs on the handle bosses, so that they may be lifted off the stubs when they are not in use. .Advantageously, the stubs aretubular and contain anchoring chains of such length that thehandles can just be lifted off, and yet held captive as they fold flat on the top of the machine, to enable'the machine to be moved through ,very restricted spaces,

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:'

Figure l is a plan view of a machine for inserting a row of single hooks; I a

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1;.

Figure 3 is a part-sectional side elevation of thejaw unit of the machine of Figures 1 and 2, to a larger scale,

the jaws being open; e Figure 4 corresponds to Figure 3, but shows the jaws closed;

Figure is a fragmentary elevation of part of Figure 9 1, looking in the direction of the'arrow A; v

Figure 6 is a section on the line VIVI of Figure 5;

of metal tube, providing: upper and lower rails 1, 2, con? nected by a curved rear end 3, the forward ends 4 of the lower rails 2 curving upwardly, so that thelower rails form skids for easy movement of the machine. Upright plates 6, 7 are'welded between the rails 1, 2. The rear ends 3 are connected by welding" to .a'tubular rear tie 8, and the front ends of the rails 1 are connected by welding to a front tie 9, the complete frame being light in weight, yet robust. The front curved ends 4 of the lower rails 2 are connected by a T-section 10 with chamfered edges 12, is carried between standards 13 on the rails 1, with levers,14 (Figure 1) to press the bar 11 by means of springs 15 onto a belt 16 (Figures 3 and 4) placed on the bar with the line of its edge partly entering notches 17 in the plates 7.

A rack bar 18 extends between the plates 6 and a comb-bar 19 between the plates 7, the two bars serving as transverse guides for a jaw unit 20. Side plates 21, 22 of the jaw unit (Figures 2, 4, 7, and 8) slide on the rack bar 18 at the rear end of the unit and partly embrace the comb-bar 19 at the front end. On a transverse pivot 23 are mounted upper and lower jaw levers 24, 25, the former having a cheek 26 adjustable by a screw 27 with a knurled head 28 in accordance with the thickness of the belt 16, while the latter has a fixed cheek 29. The cheeks 26, 29 may, however, be replaceable in accordance with the size and type of single hooks 30 to be inserted in the belt.

Pivots 31, 32 at the rear ends of the jaw levers 24, 25 are connected by toggle links 33, 34 to a common pivot 35 in a slider 36 movable along longitudinal slots 37 in the side plates 21, 22. With the slider 36 drawn near to the rack bar 18 (Figure 3), the toggle links 33, 34 assume inclined positions as they draw the pivots 31, 32 towards each other to separate the jaw cheeks 26, 29. An upper link 38 connects the pivot 35 of the slider 36 to a pivot 39 of a short lever arm 40, and a lower link 41 similarly connects the pivot 35 to a pivot 42 of short lever arm 43, the lever arms 40, 43 lying between the side plates 21, 22, and inside a longitudinally split casing 44. The lever arms 40, 43 are carried by bosses 45, 46 that pass respectively through the side plates 21, 22 and the sides of the casing 44, and externally of the casing the bosses 45, 46 carry hollow stub ends 47, 48 on which are mounted tubular lever handles 49, 50. The lever arm makes only a small angle with the handle 49, but the lever arm 43 makes a much greater angle with the handle 50, so that when the bandle 49 is pulled rearwardly and the handle 50 is pushed forwardly (Figure 3) the lever arms 40, 43 make equal angles with the line joining the axes of the rack 18 and the pivot 35, one above and the other below, that line. To enable the links 38, 41 to be clear of the bosses 45, 46, one curves upwardly and the other downwardly.

When the handle 49 is pushed forwardly and the handle 50 is pulled rearwardly to the positions shown in Figure 4, which substantially reverses the positions occupied in Figure 3, the pivots 39, 42 of the lever arms 40, 43 approach each other and push the links 38, 41, so that the toggle pivot 35 moves along the slots 37 to bring the toggle links 33, 34 substantially into line with each other, thus closing the jaw cheeks 26, 29 on to both sides of the hooks 30 to press them into the belt 16. The slider 36 has a side projection 51 (Figure 1) in an extension 52 of the casing 44. A pawl 53 inclined with respect to the rack bar 18 and pivoted at 54 on the projection 51 is urged by a spring 55 towards one stop 56, but when the slider 36 moves towards the rack bar 18 and encounters one of the teeth 57 on that bar, it is forced to a more inclined position to exert a transverse push that results in a movement of the jaw unit 20 along the rack bar. This movement is limited by a stop 58 to the amount required to bring the jaw cheeks 26, 29 opposite the next hooks 30 along the comb-bar 19. a When the slider 36 moves away from the rack bar 18, the pawl 53 is re-set by the spring 55 against the stop 56.

With a handle 49, 50 grasped by each hand, simultaneous pulling. and pushing movements close and open the jaw cheeks 26, 29 and advance the jaw unit 20 progressively across the machine until the whole of the hooks 30 in theQcomb-bar 19 have been inserted in the belt 16. The powerful leverage resulting from the very short lever arms 40, 43 enables the hooks 30 to be inserted with relatively little manual eflort, very easily applied, and with little tendency to move the machine, because of the opposite working of the two handles 49, 50.

For-convenience in transport and storage, the tubular handles 49, 50 are removable from the stubs 47, 48, but are anchored by slack chains 59.

The tubular comb-bar 19 is replaceably secured in bosses 60 on the plates 7 (Figures 1 and 6). It has slots 61 on its front face, spaced in accordance with the spacing of the row of hooks 30 to be inserted. It also has a lengthwise slot 62 (Figures 6 and 7) to receive a thrust member 63 with rear projections 64 to fit round the sides plates 21, 22 of the jaw unit 20, so that the member 63 slides with the jaw unit. The front of the member 63 bears over the length 65A (Figure 7) on the loops of the hooks 30, which loops are held by a securing rod 66 threaded into them behind the slotted front face of the comb-bar 19. When the hooks 30 are pressed into the bolt 16, the resultant thrust is transmitted through the member 63 to the front ends of the side plates 30, 21, thus relieving the comb-bar 19 of thrust liable to distort it. The portion 65B of the member 63 is cut back to allow the loops of hooks 30 that have been fully pressed into the belt 16 to pass freely. As shown by Figure 8, the jaws cheeks 26, 29 have stepped surfaces 67, 68, 69, and as shown by Figures 3 and 4, the steps 67 are inclined, so that their pressure is applied towards the pointed ends of a hook 30 between them. As the jaw unit 20 is moved by the hook spacing, the steps 68 apply pressure to the previously pressed hook, but along its whole length, which flattens the loop, now lying opposite the portion 65B of the thrust member 63. Finally, the steps 69 apply further but slighter pressure to the same hook. The securing rod 66 has a ring 70 (Figures 1, 5, and 6) for extracting it. It is guided into the front of the comb-bar 19 by a conical recess 71 in a plug 72 in the comb-bar, and the end 73 of the rod 66 is slightly bent so that it may be jammed into a bore 74 of the plug 72, to enable it to be retained frictionally during transport of the machine.

In Figures 9 and 10, a comb-bar 75 has its front face recessed at 76 to provide a lip 77 against which bears a wire 78 welded to each of a row of double hooks 79. Each hook 79 has two pointed ends 80 (see Figure 11) for one side of the belt 81 and a bridge 82 connecting the halves of the hook at the other side of the belt. The wire 78 ensures that the row of books 79 is inserted correctly in the comb-bar 75, since inversion of the row would prevent insertion of a securing rod 83, into the loops of the hooks inside the comb-bar. A fixed foot 84 is carried by brackets 85 (one only visible) projecting from the frame 86 in which an upper jaw lever 87 is mounted, that lever 87 and its cheek 88 being much the same as the lever 24 and its check 26 in Figures 3 and 4. A lower jaw lever 89 is also mounted in the frame 86, similarly to the lever 25 in Figures 3 and 4, but carries its cheek 90 beyond the foot 84. The foot 84 supports the parts of each hook 79 connected by the bridge 82 as the upper check 88 first contacts the pointed ends of the hook to force them into the belt, and the lower check 90 arrives at the underside of the belt in time to assist in applying the final pressure required of both checks to turn the points 80 under the bridge 82, the lower check 90 having recesses 91 to efiect this turning. Thus, while both jaw levers 87, 89 are essentially the same as the jaw levers 24, 25 of Figures 3 and 4 and move simultaneously through similar angles by the operation of the lever handlesas described for the application of the single hooks 30, the foot 84 provides for support of the books 79 against the underside of the belt 81 while the cheek 88 of the upper jaw 87 effects the penetration by the pointed ends 80 and until the cheek 90 of the lower jaw 89 arrives in position to turn those ends under the bridge 82 and to enable final pressure to be applied by both cheecks.

When hooks have to be applied to a width of belt in excess of the length of the slotted front of a comb-bar, the excess width of belt passes freely through the notches 17 (Figure 2') of the plates 7. As shown by Figure 12, the belt 16 may be initially positioned so that its side S is near the end 61 of the slots 61 of the comb-bar 9 when the jaw unit has been moved until the stop 92 (Figure l) meets one side plate 7, the insertion of the hooks then proceeding in the direction of the arrow T (i.e. away from the side S to the position U of the belt. The belt 16 is then released and moved in the direction of the arrow V until the position U is brought to position U to allow the last two hooks to register with the two slots at the end 61 of the comb-bar. This ensures that the belt 16 is held close to the comb-bar, and that the next series of hooks is inserted in line with the first series of inserted hooks; and so on until the total width of the belt 16 has received its books.

Alternatively, as shown by Figure 13, the belt 16 may be initially positioned with its other side S near the other end 61 of the slots 61, so that insertion of the hooks (again in the direction T) starts from position W and moves towards that edge. The belt 16 is then released and moved in the direction of the arrow X until the position W is brought to the position W to allow the first two hooks to register with the two slots at the end 61 of the comb-bar 19. The next insertion of hooks then proceeds towards the hooks previously inserted, over a length of belt-edge that is always held to the comb-bar by hooks at the end of that length. This is a further safeguard for keeping all the hooks in line with each other.

What I claim is:

1. A belt-fastening machine comprising side frames, transverse guide members, of which one is a rack bar, a jaw unit movable along the guide members and including two oppositely movable jaw levers and toggle mechanism connecting the levers, a pair of upstanding lever handles mounted on a common horizontal pivot, each of said handles being movable in opposite directions between terminal positions forwardly and rearwardly of the axis of the pivot, a pair of short lever arms connected to the lever handles and movable thereby, one of said lever arms extending upwardly and the other of said lever arms extending downwardly with respect to the axis of the pivot, and upper and lower links connecting the respective short lever arms to the toggle mechanism of the jaw levers, said toggle mechanism, lever arms, jaw levers and links being located in parallel planes whereby simultaneous opposite movements of the upstanding handles result in an opening movement of the jaw levers in one direction of handle movement and in a closing movement of the jaw levers in the other direction of 5 2,255,355

handle movement.

2. A belt-fastening machine comprising side frames, transverse guide members, of which one is a rack bar, a jaw unit, movable along the guide members and including two oppositely movable jaw levers and toggle mechanism connecting the levers, .a pair of upstanding lever handles pivotally mounted on the rack bar and movable in opposite directions between similar positions forwardly and rearwardly of the axis of the rack bar, ,a pair of short lever arms connected to the lever handles so as to be movable by the handles about the axis of the rack bar and extending upwardly and downwardly respectively with respect to the axis of the rack bar, and upper and lower links connecting the short lever arms to the toggle mechanism of the jaw levers, a slider at the connection between the two links and the toggle mechanism, a pawl engaging the rack bar, said slider serving to carry the pawl whereby simultaneous opposite movements of the upstanding handles result in an opening movement of the jaw levers and indexing of the jaws in one direction of handle movement and in a closing movement of the jawv levers in the other direction of handle movement.

3. A belt-fastening machine comprising side frames, transverse guide members, of which one is a rack bar, a jaw unit, movable along the guide members and including two oppositely movable jaw levers and toggle mechanism connecting the levers, a pair of upstanding tubular stubs pivotally mounted on the rack bar, each of said handles being movable in opposite directions between terminal positions forwardly and rearwardly of the axis of the rack bar, tubular handles to fit the stubs, anchoring chains contained in the stubs and the handles and of such length that the handles can just be lifted olf the stubs and yet held captive, a pair of short lever arms connected to the stubs and movable thereby about the axis of the rack bar, one of said lever arms extending upwardly and the other of said lever arms extending downwardly with respect to the axis of the rack bar, and upper and lower links connecting the respective short lever arms to the toggle mechanism of the jaw levers, said toggle mechanism, lever arms, jaw levers and links being located in parallel planes whereby simultaneous opposite movements of the upstanding handles result in an opening movement of the jaw levers in one direction of handle movement and in a closing movement of the jaw levers in the other direction of handle movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Matthaei Sept. 16, 1941 

